Islam during the Crusades

Overview

I could not possibly cover all of Islam in twenty Web pages,
nor even medieval Islam. In any case, I have not studied the
subject, except by way of studying the Crusades and the Middle
Ages in general. What I will attempt here, then, is only an introduction
to that portion of the Islamic world that impinged on the Crusader
States and those aspects of the religion that seem necessary
for this class. For a proper understanding of Islam, I will rely
heavily on the references given at the end of this essay.

I will begin with a very quick sketch of the history of Islam
from Muhammed up to the 11th century, with particular attention
to an explanation of Shi'a and Sunni, and the relation of Muslims
to the other "peoples of the Book." I will then describe
the major political powers in the Near East at the time of the
First Crusade. The bulk of the essay will then be devoted to
a survey of the 12th and 13th centuries.

Muhammad

The prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570 AD. We know
very little about his early life, but we do know that in mid-life
(610 AD) he experienced a series of revelations from the angel
Gabriel. Soon afterward, he began preaching publicly. The people
of Mecca were pagans and they did not like Muhammad's harsh criticisms
of their practices; in 622, he and his family emigrated to Medina.
This move is called the hijra (or Hegira) and marks
year 1 of the Islamic calendar.

Muhammad was much more successful at Medina. It was here that
he began preaching that his followers were commanded by God to
convert or else conquer the neighboring tribes. Expansion followed
rapidly, and in 630 they had conquered Mecca. Muhammad himself
died in 632.

He was recognized by his followers to be what he claimed to
be: the final and true prophet, following in a direct tradition
from Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. We have nothing from Muhammad's
hand. The sacred book of Islam, the Koran (Quran), was
written down in final form in 651 and 652, by his followers who
knew him directly and intimately.

Islam

The word "Islam" means submission. A Muslim
is one who submits to God (Allah = the God), to the will
of God, and to God's law. The first obligation of the Muslim
is to acknowledge Allah and to recognize him as the one and only
God, and to acknowledge that Muhammad is his prophet. Anyone,
therefore, can be a Muslim; like Christianity, it was a religion
that from the beginning sought out and welcomed converts.

The tone of the Koran is highly moralistic, emphasizing ethics
and proper behavior. There is very little in it that is theological
or abstract, but there is much about diet, charity toward the
poor, and various ceremonies. Muslims were to treat one another
with justice and mercy, for unity within the faith was paramount.
Non-believers were to be given the opportunity to convert, but
should they refuse, the Koran recommends holy war (jihad).

The foundation of the faith is the "five pillars":
the shahada, or profession of faith; the salat,
daily worship consisting of praying five times daily; the sawm,
which is the fasting during the month of Ramadan; the zakat,
or the giving of alms; and the hajj--the pilgrimage to
Mecca which every Muslim is supposed to undertake at least once.

The Koran was written in Arabic; in fact, it can fairly be
said that the Koran helped create Arabic as a written language.
The Koran is not supposed to be translated; or, at least, the
faithful are supposed to read the holy book in Arabic, not in
translation. Moreover, prayers must be in Arabic. This emphasis
on one language created a unity within Islam. Even after the
common people learned to pray in their own tongues, Arabic continued
to be the only language of the religiously educated, much the
same way Latin was in the West, or Greek in the East. An educated
Muslim gentleman could go anywhere the the Muslim world, from
Spain to India, and find not only a ready welcome but people
who spoke a common language and shared a common faith.

Despite bitter political divisions, and even despite religious
divisions, Islam was a single cultural entity. Leaders were supposed
to at least pretend they were trying to protect and further that
unity, or to restore it.

The First Four Centuries

Islam was an uncomplicated religion, easily adopted and readily
understood. This helps explain the rapid expansion of the religion.
Also important was the zealous fervor of the early converts,
and the relative weakness of their neighbors. Even so, the expansion
of Islam in its first decades remains one of the most remarkable
military and political and cultural accomplishments of any people
in any era.

The Muslims conquered Mecca in 630.By 635 they were in Damascus.
The following year, at Yarmuk, the Muslims routed a Byzantine
army and most of Syria was opened to them. In 637 they defeated
a Persian army and had conquered the entire Persian Empire by
650. Expansion continued eastward in the following decades, until
the Muslims had spread through Afghanistan and India, up to the
borders of China.

Jerusalem fell in 638, Egypt in 641 (Alexandria held out until
642). The Muslims swept across North Africa, conquering Tripoli
in 647, Carthage in 698, and entering Spain in 711. They were
at the gates of Constantinople in 673 and again in 717, but the
Byzantines managed to drive the Muslims out of Asia Minor again,
and that area remained Greek until the 11th century.

These conquests were achieved under the Umayyad caliphs. Caliph
means "vicar" or "successor," the title taken
by Abu Bakr who succeeded after Muhammad died. He was followed
in 634 by Omar and then Uthman, after whom the dynasty is named.
The Umayyads ruled a single, unified Islam until the middle of
the 8th century.

In 750, rebellion broke out. The descendants of Abbas, an
uncle of Muhammad, managed to kill the caliph and most of his
family. The Abbasids set themselves up at Baghdad, but rivals
arose elsewhere and Islam fragmented politically. The one surviving
member of the Umayyads fled to Spain where he continued to claim
to be caliph at Cordoba (755). Another caliphate arose in Morocco
in 788, one in Tunisia in 800, in Persia in 820, and in Egypt
in 868. Each was ruled by a man who called himself caliph--successor.

Schism

There was another division within Islam, however; a religious
division that appeared almost from the start and which continues
to this day. This division would have a significant affect on
Islamic history during the Crusades.

Muhammad died without naming a successor. After his death
in 632, his followers gathered and discussed among themselves
who should assume the mantle of leadership. None of these men
claimed to be another prophet, only that the leadership of the
faithful. Abu Bakr was chosen, but he died two years later. He
was succeeded by Omar (634-644), who led the faithful to their
most rapid and remarkable victories. On November 4, 644, Omar
was at Medina, about to lead as imam in prayers. A captive
Persian Christian (Persian had just been conquered) rushed forward
and fatally stabbed Omar. As he lay dying, he appointed six men
to decide who would succeed him.

The choice fell on Othman, a nobleman from Mecca. The other
likely candidate was Ali, a cousin to the prophet and like Othman,
one of the earliest converts, who was married to Fatima, Muhammad's
daughter. I will not go into details here. Suffice it to say
that Othman was murdered in 656 and three different men all claimed
the succession, including Ali. A civil war ensued, during which
Ali managed to win many adherents, but many enemies as well.
He died in 661, likewise murdered. The party of Omar was victorious,
but the followers of Ali went into hiding and continued to adhere
to his son, Husein.

Out of this civil war came the split between the Sunni and
the Shi'ites. Sunni means the way or customs of
the Prophet, a reference to the body of secondary literature
that discussed the many aspects of life not directly dealt with
in the Koran. The followers of Omar were Sunnites. Those who
followed Ali were "Shi'a" and they claimed that the
three caliphs who preceeded him (Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman) were
all usurpers. Ali was the first, true caliph. The fundamental
position of the Shi'ites was that succession after the Prophet
must remain in the family of the Prophet (Ali was Muhammad's
cousin).

Since Ali's descendants were in hiding, tracing a line of
authority became problematical. The result was, over time, a
variety of competing claims emerged, splits within the ranks
of the Shi'ites. Outwardly, they center on the question of the
Imams (religious leaders), each group claiming a different founder.
The Shi'ites have in common that they oppose Sunni dynasties,
but the Shi'a is more of a variety of movements under one heading.

The most notable outward, political success of the Shi'ites
came in 909 when Abu Abdallah produced a "hidden Imam"
and proclaimed him Caliph. This marks the beginning of the Fatimid
dynasty, which eventually was based at Cairo (969), though the
Fatimids conquered much of North Africa as well. In the same
century, the Buyids, a Persian clan that was also Shi'ite in
loyalty, managed to take over the ailing Abassid caliphs in Baghdad.
The Buyids never themselves claimed the caliphate, but their
advent marks the high tide for the Shi'ites.

The situation in the 11th century, then, was that Islam was
theoretically one community of the faithful, but in reality it
was divided into several caliphates. Some of these were fierce
rivals, others went their way independently. The caliphate of
Egypt was Shi'ite, the one in Baghdad was controlled by Shi'ite
viziers, and the rest were Sunni. None, except the far western
ones, were strong in the 11th century.

The Turks

The Turks were another of those fierce, nomadic peoples produced
every few centuries in the steppes of Asia. They began to filter
into Muslim Persia in the 9th century, mainly as mercenaries
and adventurers. Success in these roles brought land and titles
to some, and so the Turks began to settle within Islam, converting
to the faith. During the 10th century, most of the Turkish tribes
converted to Islam, so when they began migrating in the 11th
century, it was as Muslims, specifically as Sunnite Muslims.

By 1040, the Turks were moving into Persia in large numbers,
sweeping away every opponent. Their conquests are known today
as the Seljuk Empire, named after the leader who first united
the tribes. In 1060 they drove the Shi'ite ruler from Baghdad,
propping up the failing Abassid caliph there. Now, though, the
Caliph was under the thumb of a new power: the Turk who ruled
in the name of the Caliph took the title of Sultan. From that
point on, the Caliph in Baghdad was a religious leader only,
and it was the Sultan who ruled.

The Turks aimed in two directions: Byzantium and Egypt. The
former was Christian and so ripe for conquest and conversion,
while the latter was heretical (Shi'ite) and so open to attack.
Under Alp Arslan, the Turks invaded Armenia and Georgia. In their
train came thousands upon thousands of Turkish nomads, following
after their victorious warriors. These settled in such numbers
in Anatolia that gradually Asia Minor became known as Turkey.

The key event in this process was the battle at Manzikert
in 1071, when Alp Arslan defeated and killed the Byzantine Emperor
Romanus Diogenes. The Turks were still busily settling in to
this area when the First Crusaders arrived, twenty-five years
later.

To the south, at first it appeared the Turks would be equally
successful. After a terrible six-year famine (1067-1071) caused
the Fatimids to lose much of their empire, including Sicily and
Palestine, Egypt recovered her strength. She was led by Badr
al-Jamali, an Armenian who took the title of Amir (Commander
of the Troops). He recovered Palestine, including Jerusalem,
so it the city was under the control of Arabs and Egyptians when
it fell to the Latins in 1099.

The Turks were unable to respond. They had no tradition of
centralized government and from the 1090s on, their lands were
never united but were ruled by independent princes who took various
titles and quarreled with one another incessantly.

Mawdud

Most of the Muslim world cried out in dismay when Jerusalem
was captured by the Christians, partly because of the loss of
the city but also because of the dreadful butchery that accompanied
its fall. The outcry was mostly rhetorical, however; in practical
terms, none of the leaders of Islam cared much. The Syrian and
Palestinian coast was very much a backwater frontier, far removed
from the centers of Muslim life. Egypt stood to lose or gain
the most, but Cairo proved unable to field an army able to root
out the Latins.

The first sign of a serious counter-offensive did not appear
until 1110, when the Seljuk Sultan appointed one of his officers,
Mawdud, as governor of Mosul. The Sultan specifically directed
Mawdud to take the field against the Franks and drive them out.
He attacked Edessa and defeated a Frankish army near Tiberias,
but he was murdered in 1113 at Damascus.

Mawdud may have been killed by Assassins, new factor in Islamic
politics at this time. When the Fatimid caliphate appeared to
be hopelessly weak in the later 11th century, a Shi'ite leader
emerged--Hassan i-Sabbah--who embarked on a bold new programme.
He returned to Persia with a plan. In 1090, he seized the fortress
of Alamut by a ruse. Over the next few years, his followers captured
several more castles, all in northern Iraq. In 1094, he proclaimed
that he was in possession of the current hidden Imam and that
he was the Imam's guardian. His cult was called the New Preaching,
and belonged to the Nizar Isma'ili, but his followers are known
as the Assassins. The name stems from stories, which cannot be
proved one way or the other, that the fida'is smoked
hashish before embarking on their attacks. The fact that the
story was so widely believed is a measure of the fear they instilled.

The Assassins were unable to penetrate into the cities and
the centers of power; their strength was always in rural areas.
They soon resorted to the device of political murder to gain
allies and terrify their enemies, a technique not new to them.
The Assassins flourished until well into the 13th century. Their
daggers changed the course of many states, including those of
the Crusader kingdom. Mawdud was only one of many victims, though
an early one.

Zengi

The next leader to emerge was Zengi, atabeg of Mosul. He was
appointed to that position by the Caliph at Baghdad, al-Mustarshid,
in 1127. An atabeg is a Turkish term for a governor,
something akin to a count (comes) in the Latin west.
He expanded his rule to Aleppo in 1128 and captured Hama in 1129.
This made Zengi the most powerful Muslim commander in Syria,
though the Turks to the north were a constant threat to his position.

In the 1130s, Zengi was preoccupied with Damascus. In 1136,
the Mamluk Bazawash occupied Damascus and began trying to expand
into Palestine. It was he who killed Pons of Tripoli in 1137.
Zengi saw Bazawash as a rival and tried to move against him.
In general, over this period, Zengi's task was to expand southward
while keeping his northern borders secure. It was a delicate
balancing act.

He moved against Homs in June 1137, but Count Raymond of Tripoli
advanced, forcing Zengi to raise the siege. King Fulk came up
to help and Zengi won a great victory against the Christians,
capturing the Count and nearly capturing Fulk. The following
year, though, Emperor John invaded in the north, attacking Aleppo
itself, forcing Zengi to return to its defense. That same year,
1138, Zengi married Zumurrud, the mother of the atabeg of Damascus.
He received Homs as her dowry, displacing Unur, the governor
there. In exchange, Zengi sent Unur to rule in Damascus. In 1139,
following the murder of the atabeg, Unur took over direct rule
of Damascus as vizier. In some circles, Zengi was accused of
having instigated the murder, but Unur proved to be an inconstant
ally. By December 1139, Unur was in open revolt against Zengi's
authority, and Zengi laid siege to the city, without success.

In March 1140, Unur sought alliance with Fulk of Jerusalem,
leading to a battle in which Damascenes and Christians fought
together against the Turk Zengi. They were able to force Zengi
to retire to the safety of Aleppo and Unur actually paid a call
on Fulk at Acre.

Capture of Edessa

Zengi now turned his attention north, where wars among the
Turks seemed to provide an opportunity. He attacked Kara Arslan,
prince of Diarbekir in 1144, a man who was allied with Joscelin
of Edessa. Joscelin raised an army and marched out in November,
hoping to trap Zengi between himself and Kara Arslan. Instead,
Zengi turned unexpectedly and marched on Edessa, arriving there
on November 28. Joscelin retreated to Turbessel, unwilling
to risk open battle. After a siege of four weeks, Edessa fell.

This victory made Zengi famous, for he was responsible for
the elimination of one of the four Crusader states. He appointed
a Turk as governor, killed all the Franj males and sold the rest
as slaves. He closed all the Latin churches, but he left all
the native Christians in peace. He then moved on to take a number
of other Edessan fortresses. Trouble in Mosul forced him to break
off his conquest of Edessa, but he was back in Aleppo in May
1146, preparing to invade Syria.

In September he was besieging the Muslim town of Qalat Jabar
because it would not recognize him as overlord. On September
14, he caught a Frankish eunuch drinking from his cup and severely
upbraided the man in public. That night, the man stole into Zengi's
tent and murdered him while he slept.

Zengi's career is important because of his conquest of Edessa,
but it is important even more for the fact that he couched his
actions against the Christians in terms of a Muslim holy war.
He is the first Muslim leader to use the jihad against
the Latins as a means of mobilizing forces, gaining popular support,
and enforcing unity and obedience among his emirs. It was a formula
that would be employed even more effectively by Nuradin, Zengi's
second son and successor, and by later Muslim leaders as well.
When Islam stood united, the Franj would always be defeated (the
Byzantine Empire was a different matter), but Islam was notoriously
difficult to unite.

Zengi showed that the jihad was an effective tool.
He had the imams proclaim the holy war in sermons and
prayers, the matter was discussed in the schools and in princely
courts; it was, in short, a propaganda tool. This is not
to imply that Zengi was cynical in his use of jihad;
on the contrary, he believed strongly in its need. Zengi had
given the Turks and Arabs its first permanent victory and a vehicle
for achieving more.

Nur ad-Din

Zengi was succeeded by his second son, Nuradin. The eldest
son, Saif ad-Din, ruled in Mosul, and the Kurdish lords Shirkuh
and his brother Ayub held Aleppo. Nuradin would continue his
father's use of the jihad against the Christians and
enjoyed even greater successes. He was famous for his wisdom
and piety and won the respect of the whole Muslim world.

On learning of Zengi's death, Unur of Damascus immediately
occupied Baalbeck and made Hama and Homs his vassals. This created
a state powerful enough to be worrisome to the Christians as
well as to Nuradin. At the same time, and for much the same reasons,
Raymond of Antioch and Joscelin of Edessa advanced separately
toward Edessa. Joscelin actually broke into the city, but could
not take the citadel. Nuradin was moving against Raymond, but
when he learned of the city's peril, he returned and nearly trapped
Joscelin. The Count escaped on November 2 and Nuradin pursued
him. He caught the Franj the next day and defeated them, wounding
Joscelin.

Because the Armenians of Edessa had conspired with Joscelin
to betray the city, Nuradin now returned and massacred the entire
male Christian population. The women and children were sold into
slavery. He so ruined Edessa that it has never recovered to this
day.

In 1148, Raymond of Antioch was able to surprise Nuradin at
Famuja, between Antioch and Marash, forcing him to retreat. But
he returned the following year and turned the tables. He caught
Raymond, with his ally, the Assassin leader Abi ibn Wafa, at
the Fountain of Murad. He surrounded the Franj during the night.
When they tried to fight their way out in the morning, Nuradin
crushed them. Abi was killed. Raymond was killed by Shirkuh personally.
Nuradin sent the Prince's skull in a silver case to the Caliph
of Baghdad. The victory at Murad in 1149 opened most of Antiochene
territory to Nuradin. He had taken a vow before his men that
he would bath in the waters of the Mediterranean; the time was
right to fulfill that vow.

Nuradin and Damascus

In 1150, Nuradin raided well into Antiochene territory. He
had a truce with Joscelin, but in April, while riding to Antioch,
Joscelin became separated from his escort and was captured by
some Turcoman freebooters who wanted to sell him for ransom.
When Nuradin heard of this, he sent cavalry to take Joscelin
from the mecenaries. He had the Count blinded and put in prison,
where he died nine years later.

Nuradin did not besiege Antioch itself. The city was too strong
and he feared to attract the attention of the Byzantines. But
he took just about everything else in sight, including Apamea.
It was now, in 1150, that he drove all the way to Saint Symeon
and made good his promise to bathe in the Mediterranean. He attacked
Turbessel, but Countess Beatrice defended the fortress successfully.
Soon after, she sold it and six other fortresses to Emperor Manuel.
In spring 1151, he and the Seljuk Sultan Mas'ud attacked these
remaining fortresses, dividing them between themselves. The last
traces of the County of Edessa were gone.

The emir was also interested in Damascus. He made one demonstration
in its direction in 1150 and another in 1151, but both times
he withdrew when the Franks advanced. Count Raymond II
of Tripoli was assassinated in 1152, prompting Nuradin to attempt
the capture of Tortosa, but he was unable to keep the city. Over
and over again, he was able to raise an army, but he was unable
to command sufficient forces to carry out any sort of long-term
campaign.

He did manage Damascus, however. In 1154 he advanced yet again,
but this time the city was betrayed from within. This was the
high-point in his career. In the later 1150s, he suffered a series
of setbacks. Terrible earthquakes caused extensive damage in
many cities in 1156 and 1157, and he and his emirs were busy
with repairs. Then, in October 1157, he fell ill and for a time
believed he would die. He did recover by January 1158, but he
seemed to be more cautious after that and did not campaign as
he had earlier.

Nuradin and Egypt

The Fatimids in Egypt were falling apart in the 1150s. A series
of seemingly endless murders within the palace had put one caliph
after another in place, none of whom actually ruled (most were
mere boys); instead, Egypt was run by its viziers, who were the
instigators (and victims) of most of the murdering.

In December 1162, the latest in the parade of usurpers was
Shawar, governor of Upper Egypt. He was driven out of power in
1163 by his own chamberlain, Dhirgham. By this time, the plotting
between the various factions was so thick that Dhirgham was putting
to death anyone who even looked suspicious. The result of months
of this left the Egyptian army with few of its experienced officers
still alive.

King Amalric tried to go fishing in these waters in 1163,
and while he was gone, Nuradin attacked Krak. Count Raymond called
for help. Bohemond III of Antioch responded, accompanied by Byzantine
troops under Constantine Coloman. They surprised Nuradin in camp
and dealt him a sharp defeat. At this point, Shawar appeared
to appeal to Nuradin for help in Egypt. After some delay, he
sent his most trusted general, Shirkuh, along with a large army.
In his company was the general's nephew, Salah ed-Din. They were
immediately victorious. Dhirgham was killed and Shawar re-instated
as vizier.

Shawar now refused to honor his agreement with Nuradin and
ordered Shirkuh to leave. Instead, Shirkuh seized Bilbeis. Worried
now, Shawar sent to Amalric for help. Together they besieged
Shirkuh for three months.

Saladin

[In preparation.]

Sultan in Egypt

[In preparation.]

Sultan in Damascus

[In preparation.]

Return of Jerusalem

[In preparation.]

Victories and Setbacks

[In preparation.]

Safadin

Saladin had seventeen sons. His eldest, al-Afdal, tried to
move into his father's position as Sultan, but though he was
accepted at Damascus, other brothers were not long in asserting
their independence. In truth, Saladin had succeeded in imposing
his authority, but had failed to create unity. The traditional
centers of power, with their old rivalries, soon reappeared.
In Egypt, al-Aziz proclaimed an independent sultanate. Az-Zahir
in Aleppo refused to recognize al-Afda's authority there.

The Ayyubids quarreled throughout the 1190s, as the various
sons, plus an uncle, contended with one another over Damascus.
The eventual victory, by 1201, was the uncle, al-Adil (known
among the Christians as Safadin). Al-Adil was faced with almost
continual crusades, in the face of which he pursued a policy
of peace in Palestine, trying to avoid giving Christendom a reason
to unite against him. This left him free to attend to keeping
in line his contentious nephews.

The Ayyubids were alarmed by the fall of Constantinople With
Christendom united, the Franks and Greeks would surely proceed
against Islam with alarming consequences. But, of course, this
never happened. The true danger for the Ayyubids was not from
the Christians, Greek or Latin, but from within, from their own
divisions.

Ironically, the immediate result of the Fourth Crusade was
peace for Palestine. The truce between Jerusalem and Damascus
was undisturbed for ten years. A further, five-year truce was
signed in 1212.

In 1216, a new crusade was in preparation, and al-Adil received
a letter from the Christian pope that he should return Jerusalem
while he could, to save himself from the great invasion. The
Sultan had no intention of doing this, but he certainly had cause
to be concerned. In the first place, the Franks were said to
be amassing great armies, led by many kings. At the same time,
the political situation within Islam was less than ideal.

Egypt was ruled by al-Malik al-Kamil, the son of al-Adil.
He was caught quite unprepared for the Fifth Crusade, thinking
that the truce would not be violated. The Franks had been on
the march in 1217 but nothing had come of it. Both al-Kamil and
his father hoped the Christians would not attack Egypt and believed
they were in any case too poorly organized to be successful.

Damietta fell to the Franks in August 1218. That same month,
the Sultan's son al-Muzzam had re-taken Caesarea. But within
days of hearing of the loss of Damietta, al-Adil was dead. He
was succeeded in Damascus by al-Muzzam and in Cairo by al-Kamil.

Al-Kamil

Al-Muzzam sent help to his brother in 1218, to hold the Franks
away from Cairo. He also made the decision to dismantle the walls
of Jerusalem, as well as several fortresses in the neighborhood.
He stayed in Egypt until 1219, when he felt compelled to return
to Damascus. He tried without success to attack the Frankish
strongholds while the Crusader army was pinned down in Egypt.
This pulled John of Ibelin back to Palestine, but al-Muzzam was
unable to capture anything. In 1221, he began raising a new army
to return to Egypt. The help was not needed, however, for al-Kamil
defeated the invaders at Mansourah.

No sooner had the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Crusade than
they fell once more to conspiring against one another. Al-Muzzam
died in 1228 and al-Kamil moved immediately to take over his
lands. He invaded Palestine and, after some maneuvering, arranged
to divide the territories between himself and his brother al-Ashraf
of Aleppo, who likewise had designs on Palestine. The city of
Damascus itself was held by a nephew, an-Nasir. Neither al-Muzzam
nor al-Ashraf felt strong enough to besiege the city.

Thus, when the Emperor Frederick showed up on the Sixth Crusade,
al-Kamil was inclined to negociate rather than to fight. The
Sultan still held Jerusalem, and he knew it was a powerful bargaining
chip. He did not mind letting the Franks have the city back,
for its walls were gone and the city itself could not be defended.
Moreover, al-Kamil controlled most of the fortresses in the area.

He was not prepared for the reaction. The Sultan was criticized
throughout Islam for having given up a sacred city to the infidel
without a fight. In vain he argued that he could take the city
back any time he pleased. His forebears had done their work too
well: the Sultan was the Defender of the Faith, and al-Kamil
had not done his duty.

But, like Frederick, who endured a storm of protest in Europe
over his strangely peaceful Crusade, al-Kamil was strong enough
to wait things out. His later years were spent contending with
the Khwarismian Turks in the north and keeping one eye on the
Mongols. Al-Kamil died in 1238. No strong leaders emerged
after him from the family of Ayub. Within fifteen years of his
death, the Ayyubids were eliminated as a dynasty, replaced by
Mongols, Turks and Mameluks.

Islam in the later 12th Century

Before talking about the Mongols directly, I'm going to back
up a bit and talk about other developments in Islam, starting
in the later 12th century. The Mongol invasions were of paramount
importance in the 13th century, but to get a good picture of
this, we need to consider the Muslim world more broadly than
from Cairo and Damascus.

Saladin accomplished much more than replacing the Fatimid
dynasty with his own. His brother Turanshah subjugated
Nubia and conquered the Yemen in the 1170s. Saladin himself brought
Mosul under his sway in 1186. This brought Ayyubid interests
into contact with Persia, Armenia and Georgia, and the Indian
Ocean.

Saladin was a Sunni Muslim, and his overthrow of the Shi'ite
Fatimids greatly angered the Assassins. Rashid al-Din Sinan (1163-1193),
known as the Old Man of the Mountain, was Saladin's inveterate
enemy. Twice his men penetrated into Saladin's own tent. One
even succeeded in wounding the Sultan. More significantly, the
Assassins became a great power in their own right in Persia and
Syria, and their enmity thwarted Saladin's plans more than once.

In Baghdad, the Caliphate enjoyed a resurgence of authority
under Nasir (1180-1225). He made alliances with the Alids and
with the Isma`ili Imam at Alamut (Sinan), consciously trying
to heal the schism between Shi'a and Sunni. He also opposed the
Khwarizmian Turks, who had succeeded the Seljuks in Asia Minor
and who now were trying to make Nasir subject to them. The Khwarismians
themselves were great warriors, and they recruited heavily among
the Kipchak tribes of the lower Volga, the same tribes that provided
Egypt its Mameluks. Their leader took the old Persian title of
Shah, and it was Muhammad Shah (1200-1220) who was leading the
drive on Baghdad.

In 1217, Muhammad Shah succeeded in driving Nasir out of Baghdad,
bringing one of the Alid family in to serve as a properly obedient
and harmless Caliph. He was at the height of his power, but he
was not to enjoy it for very long.

In 1218, a caravan of merchants arrived at Utrar, on the Persian
frontier. The Khwarismians by this time had conquered Transoxiana
as well, bringing them into direct contact with the tribes of
Russia. The governor of the town claimed these merchants were
spies and had them executed. This was a mistake, for the merchants
(spies or not) had come from the land of the Mongols and were
under the protection of one Ghengis Khan. When the Great Khan
learned of the incident, he swore revenge. The days of the Khwarismians
were numbered, and Islam was about to be invaded by the Mongol
hordes.

The Mamluks

Many of the Ayyubid rulers were using slaves as soldiers,
a practice that became widespread in the 12th century. The Sultan
and various emirs recruited boys from southern Russia--the Kipchak
Turks of the lower Volga River was a favorite source. The boys
were slaves, but they were brought up in the Faith and their
lives were devoted to military instruction. By the time they
were of fighting age, they were well-trained and were utterly
devoted to one another and to their commanders.

This system worked well so long as the leaders were strong,
but the Ayyubid dynasty degenerated quickly after the death of
al-Kamil, especially at Cairo. When the Seventh Crusade came
along, it precipitated a rebellion, led by the Mamluk chieftain
Baibars. He killed the Sultan and the Caliph, and ensured that
the Caliph's place was taken by a small boy who would not question
Baibars' position. That revolt is recounted elsewhere.

The revolt ended the Ayyubid sultanate at Cairo, founded by
Saladin. In Baibars, Islam found a new champion who proceeded
vigorously against the Christians. In many other ways, however,
the Mamluk revolution changed little in Egypt. The Mamluk Sultans
inherited most of the Ayyubid political program, fiscal policies,
and so on. They continued to recruit soldier-slaves and these
continued to form the foundation of the army. The Mamluks produced
a series of strong leaders in the 13th century who were responsible
both for driving the Franj out of Syria and Palestine, and for
turning back the Mongol advance that was devastating the lands
of Islam.

Baibars

His name was Rukn ad-Din Baibars Bundukdari. He was a big
man, recklessly brave with a reputation for ferocity, but he
was also an outstanding field commander. Not long after the Battle
of Ain Jalut, he murdered Kutuz with his own hands and became
Sultan himself. He vanquished a rival at Damascus in January
1261, whereupon Homs and Hama submitted peacefully. After occupying
Aleppo later that same year, Baibars was in command of nearly
as much territory as Saladin had been.

Prince Bohemond of Antioch, along with King Hethoum of Armenia,
had allied with Hulagu and the Mongols. Baibars swore revenge
for this, and was raiding as far as the port of Saint Symeon
by 1262. He threatened Antioch itself, but King Hethoum called
for help from his Mongol allies and Baibars was forced to withdraw.

In 1263 he captured Nazareth and raided up to the walls of
Acre. He returned in 1265 and captured Caesarea. Haifa fell soon
after, and its citizens were massacred. He then attacked the
great citadels of Athlit and Arsuf; the former held, the latter
fell. Everywhere he went Baibars slaughtered the Christians
if they resisted, and either killed or sold into slavery everyone
in the military orders, for he understood that the Templars and
Hospitallers were his most dangerous enemies.

Hulagu died February 8, 1265. The Mongol empire in the west
divided between the Golden Horde, which was now Muslim, and the
heir of Hulagu, Abaga. This freed Baibars to move even more energetically
against the Christians. In 1266 he besieged Safed and eventually
captured it. Toron followed soon after.

Further north, Baibars' best general, Kalavun, was leading
an army into Armenia, in alliance with al-Mansur of Hama. They
routed the Armenians in Cilicia on August 24, 1266, and captured
the capital, Sis, in September. This effectively eliminated Antioch's
only remaining ally.

Baibars himself attacked Acre again in 1267, but again he
was turned back. He march once more in 1268, capturing Jaffa
in March. The castle of Beaufort followed in April. He arrived
before Antioch on May 14, 1268. Prince Bohemond was at Tripoli.
His constable was captured in the first day of fighting, and
the city itself fell on May 18. The Muslims destroyed the great
city. One of the emirs ordered all gates locked, so that no one
could escape. All those not killed were enslaved. Depopulated
and destroyed, Antioch never recovered. Of the Principality,
on Lattakieh survived.

The Sultan made a run at Acre in 1269, trying to lure the
defenders into a trap, but they stayed within the walls. The
next year, he was relieved to learn that the great crusade of
King Louis had been diverted to Tunis and that the king himself
had died there.

Meanwhile, the Mongols were still a threat. Abaga, Hulagu's
son, married Maria of Byzantium. But he was so occupied in the
north and east that he was never able to send significant military
forces against Baibars, who, for his part, was careful not to
attract the anger of the Khans.

In 1271, Baibars captured the White Castle of the Templars,
and then the Krak des Chevaliers, the famous Hospitaller stronghold.
He then made a ten-year truce with Bohemond at Tripoli, then
went south and captured Montfort in June. That fall, at the request
of Prince Edward of England, who was in the Holy Land on Crusade,
Abaga sent ten thousand horsemen into Syria. This was as close
as anyone ever came to the much-discussed alliance between the
Mongols and the Christians. They raided Aleppo and Apamea, but
could capture neither. When the Sultan led a large army north
in November, the Mongols retreated and did not return.

In 1272, he accepted Edward's offer of a ten-year truce. Baibars
had captured many key cities and fortresses, so he may have felt
that he could finish the job later. In the meantime, he was still
very much concerned about the Mongol threat. And, in any case,
he had other tools to hand. In June, the Sultan had an Assassin
try to murder Prince Edward. He nearly succeeded; Edward was
sick for months, and returned to England not long after his recovery.

Meanwhile, he spent the next few years invading Cilicia and
Armenia. The Seljuks here were nominally under the Mongols. When
Baibars defeated the Mongol garrison in 1277, Abaga himself led
the retaliation. Baibars retreated to Syria and Abaga was able
to recover Anatolia. The Sultan died July 1, 1277.

Kalavun

Baibars' sons were unable to succeed their father. Instead,
his great general, Kalavun, seized power in December 1279. Abaga
tried to take advantage of the situation by raiding in force,
capturing Aintab, Baghras and Aleppo. But Kalavun raised a large
army and again the Mongols retreated in the face of the Mamluks.
In September 1281, Abaga tried again, invading Syria with two
full armies. One, commanded by the Ilkhan's brother, Mangu Timur,
went by way of Aleppo to the Orontes River. Kalavun marched north
and met Mangu Timur at Homs on October 30. He won, but was unable
to follow up and was unable to advance against Abaga and the
other army.

Abaga simply had too many men committed on other fronts to
be able to invade effectively, or to risk pitched battle with
the victors of Ain Jalut. The Euphrates River now became the
more or less permanent frontier between the Mameluks and the
Mongols.

The following year came news of the Sicilian Vespers. There
was now no leader in the West who could pose a serious threat
to Islam. The ten year truce of Baibars was ending. It was time
to sweep the Christians into the sea.